Solar System Differentiation Planetary Differentiation Radiometric Dating Solar System Motions

Solar System Differentiation

Solar System Differentiation All of the heavy elements are born in a supernova.

Solar System Differentiation

Solar System Differentiation Inner Solar System is HOT Light elements (H, He) and “ices” vaporized Blown out of the inner Solar System by solar wind Only heavy elements (Fe, Ni) are left Outer Solar System is COLD Too cold to evaporate ices to space Rock and ice “seeds” grew large enough to attract gasses (H, He)

Planetary Differentiation

Planetary Differentiation

Planetary Differentiation As the planets cooled the layers settled out according to density.

Planetary Differentiation Chondrites, a type of meteorite, do not show this differentiation.

Meteorites http://www.markelowitz.com/meteorites.html

Planetary Differentiation The gravitational force of the inner planets is too weak to hold on the lighter elements like H and He. (THINK about a Helium balloon.)

Radiometric Dating Abbreviations: P = Protons. N = Neutrons Radiometric Dating Abbreviations: P = Protons N = Neutrons e- = Electrons

Radiometric Dating Absolute Age – the numeric age of an object or event Radiometric Dating – a method of determining the absolute age of an object by comparing the relative percentages of a radioactive (parent) isotope and a stable (daughter) isotope

Radiometric Dating Label the atom Inside the nucleus of an atom are P and N The # of P in the nucleus determines what the element is (for example Carbon always has 6 P) Label the atom

Radiometric Dating The # of N can vary. Atoms of the same element that have different # of N are called isotopes.

Radiometric Dating P = Protons N = Neutrons e- = Electrons If you change the # of P  you change the atom itself. If you change the # of N  you create an isotope. If you change the # of e-  you create an ion (charged atom).

Radiometric Dating All elements with atomic numbers greater than 83 are radioisotopes meaning that these elements have unstable nuclei and are radioactive. 

Radiometric Dating Radioactive Decay The unstable (radioactive) isotopes decays to form a new (daughter) isotope. Decays at a constant rate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKJMk2Oiod0

Radiometric Dating Types of Radioactive Decay Alpha Decay Beta Decay Gamma Rays https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oUagoF_viQ

Radiometric Dating Half Life The time required for half of a sample of a radioactive isotope to break down by radioactive decay to form a daughter Isotope. Compare relative percentages of the parent and daughter isotopes to get the age.

Radiometric Dating Radioactive Isotopes Used to determine the age of the earth Uranium-238, or 238U Daughter, lead-206 Half-life 4.5 billion years Potassium-40, or 40K, Argon-40 Half-life of 1.25 billion years

Radiometric Dating Zircons Zircons are volcanic crystals that contain the radioactive element uranium, which are called “ geologic clocks” because uranium converts to the element lead at a specific rate over a long span of time.

Planetary Motions Kepler’s came up with three laws of planetary motion based on Tycho Brahe’s observations of the night sky.

Planetary Motions Kepler’s 1st Law - The Law of the Ellipses The orbit of a planet is an ellipse with the sun at one focus. A path connecting the two foci to the ellipse always has the same length.

Planetary Motions Kepler’s 2nd Law - The Law of Equal Areas The line joining a planet and the sun sweeps equal areas in equal time. Dt The planet moves slowly here. Dt The planet moves quickly here.

Planetary Motions Kepler’s 3rd Law - The Law of Periods Compares the orbital period and radius of an orbit of a planet to those of other planets. http://astro.unl.edu/naap/pos/animations/kepler.swf

Kepler Space Telescope Kepler Space Telescope Reporting: Confirmed Planets = 136 Unconfirmed Planets = 3,548 Planets within the habitable zone = 272 http://youtu.be/EmsYCbYu-LA

50 years of exploration Published by National Geographic

Voyager 1 Beginning with http://goldenrecord.org/ http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/JPLvoyagerModule/JPLvoyagerModule.html

Back to the Facts http://youtu.be/uhcKaFQD7l0 Venus spins the wrong way ?????? Uranus rains diamonds ?????? http://youtu.be/uhcKaFQD7l0

Venus New theory: suggests that Venus may not have flipped at all… instead its rotation slowed to a standstill and then reversed direction. Taking into account other factors … tidal effects from other planets, etc … Venus's axis could have shifted due to a variety of positions throughout the planet's evolution.

Uranus Uranus contains methane … which can turn into diamond at high temperatures and pressures. Allowing diamonds to fall like raindrops or hailstones …

Movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_3PFfMdZ9c Want to learn more: http://www.indiana.edu/~geol105/images/gaia_chapter_3/earth_differentiation.htm http://geology.indiana.edu/h205_2/index.html http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/Sept05/PortalesValley.html https://www.agi.com/resources/educational-alliance-program/astro-primer/primer1.htm Movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_3PFfMdZ9c Want to learn more: http://wisp.physics.wisc.edu/astro104/lecture28/lec28_print.html Planet Poetry: http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/review/story-superstar/text-version.html